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Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network

Programming and Instruction

for Generalization and

Generativity

Amiris Dipuglia

PATTAN

National Autism Conference

Penn State University

2015

Some Common Dilemmas:

• Why am I teaching chair?

• How many items are sufficient to teach a student

before I can start teaching higher order skills?

• How many imitation targets do they need to have

mastered before I can discontinue the program?

• How does this lead to a functional and independent

21 year-old?

• Why can my student read at grade level, but is

unable to respond to questions regarding what he

read?

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• Despite using effective procedures, teaching

discrete skills without regard to how those

skills will develop and eventually become part

of more complex repertoires, is insufficient

• Non-systematic and non-sequential instruction

of mands, tacts, echoics, intraverbals or other

skills will unlikely result in establishing

functional complex verbal repertoires

A Note On Something Commonly

Misunderstood About Behavior Analysis

1. Complex behaviors emitted by competent humans

are rarely shaped bit by bit

2. Most human behavior is not directly shaped at all

3. Complex behaviors, however, arise from other

response classes that have been shaped bit by bit

4. Palmer calls the building blocks of complex behavior

“atomic repertoires” (Palmer, 2012)

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Atomic Repertoires

A set of fine-grained units of behavior,

each under the control of a distinctive

stimulus, that can be evoked in any

permutation by the arrangement of

corresponding stimuli.

David Palmer, 2012

Some Atomic repertoires

• Imitation (doing what someone else does)

• Echoic (repeating words said to you)

• Tacts (saying the name of things)

• Textual behavior (reading words)

• Transcriptive behavior (copying a text)

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Atomic Repertoires and Autism

Common issues:

– Failure to use skills taught in novel ways or under

novel circumstances

– Failure to transfer responses to novel exemplars

(generalization)

– Responding to a very limited number of cues in

their environment.

One Way to Address the Issue:

Teach Atomic Repertoires

• Systematic programming that involves teaching some

critical atomic repertoires may result in more

generalized and generative responding

• Teaching basic repertoires will not suffice, but rather

is a necessary step in the process of teaching

complex skills

• Determining which repertoires/skills need taught will

require assessment processes

• Assessments should be efficient and yield the

necessary information to determine what skills need

taught

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VB-MAPP as an Assessment Tool

• The VB-MAPP was developed as tool to guide programming

(not a curriculum, but rather a curricular guide)

• The tool is based on a functional approach to language

acquisition rather than a structural approach

– Allows us to assess, not only what children say, but also under what

conditions they say it

• The tool was meant to be guided by teams skilled in applied

behavior analysis, the analysis of verbal behavior, and

curricular sequences

• It is criterion referenced; not standardized

VB-MAPP as Criterion Level Assessment

• Assessment and instruction systems are

probably most effective when they are

integrated and form a feedback loop.

• The VB-MAPP provides a formative

assessment that guides more fine grained

analysis of student performance and

instructional effectiveness

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Assessments

(VB-MAPP, CBAs, ADLs, Vocational, College

Readiness, etc.)

Program/ Target Selection

Teaching Procedures

Organization

(materials, environment, time)

Data Systems

Staff Training/ Treatment Fidelity

An Integrated System of Instruction

Clarification of Common Misunderstandings

• Primary curricula: PA Core Standards

• Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and

Placement Program: Curricular guide to be used

as one tool in PaTTAN ABA supported classes

• Other skill sequences may also serve as

supplemental curricula to support the PA Core

Standards (e.g. Direct Instruction sequences;

Social Skills, ADLs, Vocational)

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Teacher Effectiveness, PA Core Standards,

and the VB-MAPP

• PATTAN Autism Initiative has linked content from VB-MAPP

with the PA Core Standards

• The sequence of skills from basic repertoires through more

complex combinative usages are set up to lead students to

language skills that will allow higher order acquisition of

concepts in content areas and social interactions

• The skills necessary to implement programming from the VB-

MAPP are consistent with:

– Establishing a culture of learning

– Using assessment in instruction

– Using prompts to facilitate participation

– Setting instructional outcomes

VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment

• Three developmentally sequenced levels – Level 1= 0-18 months

– Level 2= 18-30 months

– Level 3= 30-48 months

• 16 milestone areas

• 170 measurable milestones

• Includes a task analysis which provides a more

detailed description of skill sets at operant level for

Milestones Assessment

• Allows further specification of instructional programs

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Skill Area Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Mand X X X

Tact X X X

Listener Resp. X X X

VP/MTS X X X

Play X X X

Social X X X

Imitation X X

Echoic X X

Vocal X

LRFFC X X

IV X X

Group X X

Linguistics X X

Reading X

Writing X

Math X

TOTAL: 9 12 13

Considerations for Teaching

Atomic Repertoires to Build

Complexity

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Teach Concepts not Items

• What is a concept? An extended tact

– Teach multiple exemplars (full range)

– Teach critical features

– Establish stimulus class formation

– Generalized to novel examples

• Teach recombination and novel responding

– How you arrange and populate skill tracking sheets is critical (see

examples)

– Natural environment teaching

• Directly teach complex skills

– Use of joint control procedures

– Matrix training (Axe, 2008)

Generalize across:

• People

• Places/settings

• Materials

• Instructions (Verbal Sds)

• Time presented

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Reminder of VB-MAPP as Assessment Tool

vs. Adequate Criteria for Mastery

• VB-MAPP criteria for assessing generalization:

mastering items across 3 exemplars (low bar)

– Student should be able to tact almost any exemplar

of the item

• Tact of critical features may facilitate concept

acquisition

– Why we teach tacts of parts and features

Teaching Verbal Conditional Discriminations

• Conditional discrimination:

– A response that occurs (is reinforced) dependent on

(conditional on) more than one component in the

antecedent

• Verbal conditional discrimination:

– At least one of the components in the antecedent is verbal

• Students with autism often fail to attend to all

aspects of a statement or question

– Example: “name some big dogs.”

– Response: “Great Dane, Labrador, Retriever, Collie (Not

Chihuahua Pekingese or a list of ALL big dogs)

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Teaching Combinatorial Responding

• Establishing responses that can be combined to

generate an indefinite number of novel arrangements

and responses

• One example:

– Teach tacts of items across almost any novel exemplar and

to fluency

– Tact and LR of ongoing actions: teach action across

multiple exemplars of objects and multiple actions across

each object taught

– Without much effort, student can then learn to respond

to an indefinite amount two component tacts involving

verb-noun and noun-verb combinations

Target

Date

introduced

Date Mastered

1

Rolling Pencil

2

Rolling Ball

3

Rolling Marker

4

Rolling Bottle

5

Rolling Glue

6

Tapping Pencil

7

Tapping Ball

8

Tapping Marker

9

Tapping Bottle

10

Tapping Glue

11

Spinning Pencil

12

Spinning Ball

13

Spinning Marker

14

Spinning Bottle

15

Spinning Glue

16

Coloring Ball

17

Coloring Tree

18

Coloring Flower

19

Coloring Circle

20

Coloring Car

Skill Tracking Sheet

Student Name: _________________ Skill: Tact of Verb-Noun Combinations

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Joint Control

• Many of our responses require us to engage in

more than one response (not always overt and

observable by others) before we emit the end

response

• When several operants control a response, it is

called Joint Control

• End Response is mediated by other responses

Joint Control

• Often times joint control works by first echoing

something that was said, then using the

echoic/self-rehearsal while tacting/or emitting an

intraverbal as part of a selection response

• As the selection is made an “aha” comment or

prosody change is usually emitted

– Example: following instructions to select multiple

items (grocery list)

Lowenkron, 1998

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Some applications of Joint

Control…

Multiple LR Discrimination

• Not explicitly listed on VB-MAPP Milestones

• Is included at 8-d LR task analysis

• Is an important skill; usually taught at a level

similar to tacts of actions and features

• Student has acquired wide range of single LR

discriminations and responds easily to such

tasks.

• Student must have strong echoic/imitation and

tact repertoire for items to be discriminated

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Demonstration of Teaching Procedure

Multiple LR Discrimination with Joint Control

• Steps:

– Sd presented (select 3 items in sequence)

– Do not use imitative prompts

– Rehearsal phase: have student echo or imitate the

3 item sequence and then self-echo or self-imitate

– Have the student rehearse more than you think is

necessary, but a minimum of 3 times

– Re-present the SD and have student respond

Teaching Yes/No Tacts

• Answering “yes” or “no” in response to questions about a

non-verbal stimulus. For example:

– When shown a pencil and asked “Is this a pencil?” the participant

would say “yes.”

– When shown a pencil and asked “Is this a drum?” the participant

would say “no.”

• Yes and No responses are actually:

– Yes or No, in this case, not actual tacts

– Verbal behavior about verbal behavior (autoclitics)

– The speakers tendency to say whether they would tact the item as

spoken.

• Can be taught through process of joint control

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Teacher Says:

Is this a pencil?

Rehearsal: “pencil,

pencil, pencil…”

(covert self-echoic)

(presence

of joint

control)

Teacher Says:

Is this a drum?

Rehearsal: “drum,

drum, drum…”

(covert self-echoic)

“pencil”

(tact)

“YES”

“NO”

“pencil”

(covert

echoic)

“drum”

(covert

echoic)

(descriptive

autoclitic)

(descriptive

autoclitic)

(absence

of joint

control)

CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS YES/NO TACTS

Another example of establishing atomic

repertoires relevant to autism:

Teaching Category/Class:

– Tacting item when provided with the class

• In the presence of an array of items that includes a cat:

– Sd: “Tell me the one that’s an animal” R: student scans, tacts “cat” upon seeing the cat

• Usually only introduced once the LR discrimination and the tact of item is

strong

• Response involves both responding as a listener and emitting the tact

– Tacting the Class of Items

• The student tacts the category/class of objects. When presented with an

object or picture of an object can the student names the class

– Sd: in the presence of a cat “a cat is a kind of_____” R: “animal”

• The stimuli that evoke the response are the relevant features that are

necessary criteria for inclusion in a particular class of items

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Teaching and Programming Considerations:

• Teach tact of class on items that are strongly acquired as tact

• During training, intersperse trials for tacting the whole item

• Tact and LR class are taught at the same time

• At any one time, teach two categories

• Teach each category until the student can tact novel items when

provided with the named category as well as provide the category

of items not previously targeted

Target

Date introduced Date Mastered

1 Tell me an animal: Cat

2 Dog

3 Horse

4 Pig

5 Cow

6 Elephant

7 Lion

8 Zebra

9 Sheep

10 Monkey

11 Tell me a food: Pizza

12 Hamburger

13 Hotdog

14 Sandwich

15 Spaghetti

16 Soup

17 Rice

18 Chicken

19 French Fries

20 Eggs

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

Target

Date introduced Date Mastered

1 A cat is a type of: Animal

2 A dog is a type of: Animal

3 A horse is a type of: Animal

4 A pig is a type of: Animal

5 A cow is a type of: Animal

6 A elephant is a type of: Animal

7 A lion is a type of: Animal

8 A zebra is a type of: Animal

9 A sheep is a type of: Animal

10 A monkey is a type of: Animal

11 A pizza is a type of: Food

12 A hamburger is a type of: Food

13 A hot dog is a type of: Food

14 A sandwich is a type of: Food

15 Spaghetti is a type of: Food

16 Soup is a type of: Food

17 Rice is a type of: Food

18 Chicken is a type of: Food

19 French fries are a type of: Food

20 Eggs are a type of: Food

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

Skills Tracking Sheet:

Student Name:_____________ Skill: Tact of Class/Tact of Item by Class

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Intraverbal Feature, Function, Class

(FFC’s)and Webbing

• The student will fill in phrases and answer questions

regarding the feature, function, and class of items.

• Example: When presented with the question (item not

present) “What do you write with?” the student will

answer “pencil”.

• The stimuli that evoke the response is the other person’s

verbal behavior (the fill in the blank phrase or question).

Prerequisite Skills and Considerations for

IV-FFC Training:

• Many tacts items (tact for item involved must be known)

• For function: Tact and LR of item and ongoing action involved.

• For features: Tact and LR of the items, parts and features of the

item involved.

• For class: Tact and LR of items in the class as well as tacting the

class of items.

• Having a solid base of these skills will avoid establishing

intraverbal rote responding. For example, some children may be

able to respond “car” when asked to name something with

wheels, but may not know what wheels are.

– When prompting the intraverbal, generally, use mastered tacts. For example,

when teaching the fill in response for “You swim in the ____”, the prompt would

be showing the student a picture of a pool.

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Intraverbal FFC’s and Webbing Stimulus and Response Classes

Car Bed Ball Cat

Stimulus Class

(Convergent)

Response Class

(Divergent)

Stimulus Class

(Convergent)

Response Class

(Divergent)

Stimulus Class

(Convergent)

Response Class

(Divergent)

Stimulus Class

(Convergent)

Response Class

(Divergent)

Something

you drive is

a

What do

you do with

a car?

Sleep in a What do

you do with

a bed?

You throw a What do

you do with

a ball?

You pet a What do

you do with

a cat?

Something

you ride is a

What do

you do with

a car?

Something

with pillows

is a

A bed has You bounce

a

What do

you do with

a ball?

What has a

tail?

A cat has a

Something

with wheels

is

A car has Something

with

blankets is a

A bed has You kick a What do

you do with

a ball?

Something

with

whiskers is

a

A cat has

Something

with wipers

is a

A car has Something

with a

mattress is a

A bed has a You catch a What do

you do with

a ball?

Something

with fur is a

A cat has

Tell me a

vehicle

A car is a Tell me a

furniture

A bed is a Something

round is a

A ball is Tell me an

animal

A cat is an

Something

with a

seatbelt

A car has a Tell me a

toy

A ball is a

Intraverbal FFC’s and Webbing

• Utilize a separate skills tracking sheet for feature,

function, and class (see examples)

• Initial intraverbal responses for each item as well as

those that apply only to one item will be taught using

the usual prompt-transfer-distract-check procedure.

• Once these first FFC’s for each item are mastered

you will begin the first step of the webbing process.

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Preparation of teaching materials:

• For single responses:

“ Moo says a ______”

Cow

Intraverbal FFC: Teaching Trial Example

Trial Teacher’s Response Learner’s Response

Intraverbal Trial with Tact

Prompt

“Moo says a____” (with

picture of cow present)

“Cow”

Intraverbal Transfer “Moo says a ____” (no

picture)

“Cow”

Intraverbal distracter “Your first name is?” “Marty”

Receptive distracter “Give me the popcorn” “Gives picture of popcorn”

Intraverbal transfer “Tell me the one that bounces”

(no picture)

“Cow”

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Protocol: Intraverbal FFC’s and Webbing

Phase 2

• Pick the concepts to teach as web(from FFC’s taught). From

the examples in the above table these could be: things that

have wheels, vehicles, furniture, things that are round, toys,

animals, things with tails.

• The student should already have one mastered response to

each FFC area.

• Continue to add new responses to each of these classes (one

at a time).

• As the student masters each response, require naming all of

the previously learned responses when asked for them one at

a time. For example: “tell me a vehicle …car”. Yes, “tell me

another vehicle”….”train”…….

Preparation of teaching materials:

• For concepts with more than one response:

“A pizza has_______” “Tell me something with a door”

Cheese House Car Sauce Bus Van Crust Cabinet Oven Pepperoni Elevator Refrigerator Microwave Store

• Write the verbal Sd on a blue 3x5 card and list responses

that will be targeted within that concept

• As student masters each item, it should be highlighted on

the card

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Preparation of teaching materials:

• If student emits a response for a novel item not currently targeted, mark

with a plus (+) as shown below:

“Tell me an animal”

Dog Cat

• Novel responses Pig++ Horse

Cow Elephant Zebra+ Giraffe

Novel

• If you have two consecutive probes correct response for a novel item, it

should be highlighted on card and considered mastered

• Responses emitted that are not on card can be added in at any time

Once student

can emit multiple

novel items,

mark the right

bottom corner

with word

“Novel” and add

card to easies

Materials Organization for Webbing

• Develop marker

cards with titles of

concepts (only for

those with multiple

responses being

taught)

• Organize in small

card holder/bin in

alphabetical order

for quick access

• Each tab will include

pictures of all

mastered items

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Teaching Procedures for additional

members of a class:

Seven steps: 1. Present verbal Sd and wait for student to emit response for mastered

item (repeat as necessary for all mastered members of the class)

– Example: “Tell me a vehicle” (student responds with mastered item

“car”

2. Repeat verbal Sd followed by an immediate prompt

– Example: “Tell me another vehicle” and show picture of bus for student

to tact (may reinforce here if necessary depending on VR)

3. Distract (Run a few easy trials)

4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 (may need repeated more than once)

5. Distract

6. Check

– Example: “Tell me a vehicle”: “car”, “tell me another vehicle”: “bus”

7. Differentially reinforce

Intraverbal FFC’s and Webbing

Phase 3

• As new responses are added to the class, also teach

the relevant FFC’s of the added response.

• Eventually the student will have mastered several

responses for each class and, therefore, be able to

emit relevant verbal responses to a randomly varied

set of questions/verbal Sds.

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Webbing Maps

• It is helpful to create summaries of what the

student already has mastered (as a prompt for

the instructor) – This allows instructor to present questions in a flexible

manner to whatever responses a student may emit.

To accomplish this you can set up a binder or

folder with clear tabs for each class so you can

quickly reference them.

Sample Webbing Map Summary

2 way arrows

indicate student has

also mastered the

reversal

Highlight means

student has other

members of that

concept mastered

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Animal

Animal

Elephant

Dog

Fish

Cat

Tail

Tail

Tail

Tusks

Whiskers

Pet

Paws

Pet

Pet

Fins

Trunk

Tail

Tail

Elephant

Dog

Kite

Cat

Animal

Animal

Animal

Tusks

Whiskers

Pet

Paws

Pet

Toy

String

Trunk

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Vehicle

Vehicle

Car

Boat

School

Bus

Train

Wheels

Wheels

Sail

Door

Stop

Sign

Toy

Stern

Yellow

Wheels

Wipers

Intraverbal FFC’s and Webbing

Data Based Decision Making

• Ongoing analysis of student responding to determine

when and how to fade prompts.

• Decisions to discontinue program should be based

on student’s ability to provide novel intraverbal

responses within categories, web within and across

concepts, across settings and instructors as well as

student’s ability to acquire novel targets without

intensive teaching.

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Target Date

introduced

Date

Mastered

1 “A car is a type of ______ “ (Vehicle)

2 “A bus is a type of _____ “ (Vehicle)

3 “A Boat is a type of _____ “ (Vehicle)

4 “A Train is a _____ “ (Vehicle)

5 “A Airplane is a type of_____ “ (Vehicle)

6 “A helicopter is a type of_____ “ (Vehicle)

7 “A shirt is a kind of______” (Clothing)

8 “Pants are a kind of______” (Clothing)

9 “A jacket is a kind of______” (Clothing)

10 “A hat is a kind of______” (Clothing)

11 “Socks are a kind of______” (Clothing)

12 “A dress is a kind of______” (Clothing)

13 “A sweater is a kind of______” (Clothing)

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

Target

Date

introduced

Date

Mastered

1 Tell me a vehicle: Car

2 Bus

3 Boat

4 Train

5 Airplane

6 Helicopter

7 Tell ,e a clothing: Shirt

8 Pants

9 Jacket

10 Hat

11 Socks

12 Dress

13 Sweater

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

Skills Tracking Sheet for IV Class

General Programming

Considerations

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General Guidelines for Programming

1. Complete VB-MAPP assessment (completion of all domains not

always necessary to begin programming)

2. Identify the general level of the child

3. Analyzing the scores in each of the relevant skill areas and note

performance level obtained in each column (skill domain)

• Determine skill sets in relation to selecting known items, items that

can serve as prompts and assist in selection of target items and

response forms

• Note the gaps (milestones for which student did not meet the criteria)

in each column

4. Select Instructional Programs that are balanced across

operants and at appropriate instructional level

Caveat: Remember the criteria are intended for assessment purposes and

do not imply mastery of the skill sets

General Guidelines for Programming

• Select targets for instruction that are relevant for student: – Usually valuable to student

– Common in day-to day life

– Tied to general education curriculum

– Will promote and facilitate social initiations and interactions.

– Will promote independence

• Be sure programming is consistent with student’s response form (vocal vs. sign)

• Be sure instructional materials are available for specific items selected within programs

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Guidelines for Selecting Response Forms

• Assessment

– Echoic skills

– Imitation skills

– Spontaneous vocalizations

• Consideration should be given:

– Ease of production

– Developing a full range of verbal skills

– Portability

– Independent use

• History of response to intervention

– How long have signs been tried?

– Verify quality of implementation of training efforts

Establishing Initial Repertoires:

Common Programming Procedures

for Level 1 and Related Protocols

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Earliest Learners in Level 1

• May need to establish instructional control – Are adults established as conditioned reinforcers for the

student: pairing process; “free” delivery (in absence of problem behavior)

• Saliency of attending response (attending to speakers voice, instructional materials)

• Identification and conditioning of adequate pool of reinforcers

• First programs: • Approach behavior

• Mand

• Imitation (objects and motor)

• Tact

• Match to sample

• LR in context

Establishing Mand Repertoires: Level One

• Schedule adequate opportunities to mand • Provide mand trials across a variety of motivational classes,

across a variety of listeners, and across settings. • Always check for motivation (or contrive motivation) • Have a systematic plan to fade mand prompts

– Two types of mand transfer trials: within trial and second trial transfer

• Consistently use correction procedures • Avoid “generalized mands” • Avoid chaining extraneous behaviors into mand responses

(reach first, then sign) • Select target responses that will be relatively easy for child to

produce • Sequence mand skills carefully: don’t move too early to

multiple component mands or increased MLU for mands; to yes/no mands…Focus on building full range and independent responding!

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Establishing Tact Repertoires: Level One

• Teach many tacts

• Teach sufficient exemplars for tact targets (will cover in more detail later)

• Be sure student can tact objects

• Provide sufficient tact training opportunities to establish new skills as well as assist with generalization and fluency

• Sequence tact instruction carefully: do not stop at tacting objects

• Initially, keep verbal SD consistent

• Be sure controlling variables are right (that what you think is a tact is really a tact and not a mand, or in the case of prompt dependency, an echoic)

Establishing Imitation Repertoires: Level One

• Schedule adequate opportunities for imitation trials

• Sequence action to be imitated carefully (from easy to hard) – Easier movements to produce will include grounded movements,

bidirectional, do not involve crossing midline, are in their view)

• Plan to fade prompts (appropriate use of transfer trials)

• Be sure imitative discrimination is taught

• For imitation with objects teach each movement across several objects and several movements across each object

• Initially, keep verbal SD consistent and teach using identical items

• Consistently use correction procedures

• Provide sufficient training to teach new skills as well as establish generalized imitation repertoire and fluency of responses

• Require clean responding (but keep in mind shaping process)

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Listener Responding (LR): Level One

• Schedule adequate opportunities for instruction

• Sequence skills from easy to hard – Begin with following instructions in context

– Teach targets for actions already mastered in imitation

– For selecting named items, begin with small field size and far out non-exemplars (items that are not similar to the target being taught)

• Keep in mind that the tact may facilitate the development of LR discrimination

• Plan to fade prompts (appropriate use of transfer trials)

• Teach discrimination from the start

• Consistently use correction procedures

• Provide sufficient training to establish generalization and fluency

• In some cases, may need to teach scanning and/or response skills in isolation from the discrimination

Teaching Scanning and other Response Skills

• Avoid “look here” or “Johnny, look here”

• Use sufficient 0 second prompts but fade prompts asap

• Fade in complexity of array

• May need to start with scanning between reinforcers

• Keep field dynamic (avoid shaping up location selection bias)

• Avoid mastering in field size of 2

• Teach skills such as touching item in various locations

• Teach response (e.g. “touch”, “give”)

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Establishing Social and Play Skills: Level One

• The main focus for early learners is conditioning

items, activities and peers as reinforcers

• Motivational variables: establishing the value of social

interactions

• Be careful not to target eye contact too early (rather

condition others as reinforcers as above)

• Spontaneity: hard to program for! (Comes from multiple

exemplar training and fluent responding) Social items 4-5

Dylan

• 6 Years old

• Attends Autism

support classroom

(elementary)

• 1st year in classroom

• Barriers for Dylan included instructional

control issues,

response

requirement

weakening MO, and

impaired mand

repertoire

8/5/2015

33

Dylan

Programming

• Initial Programming: – Intensive mand training

– Establishing instructional control

• 2nd Phase Programming: – Imitation

– Match to sample

– Tacting common items

– Vocal Shaping

– Conditioning peers as reinforcers

0

5

10

15

20

25

11/2

7

12/1

1

12/2

5

1/1

5

1/2

9

2/1

2

2/2

6

3/1

2

3/2

6

4/9

4/2

3

5/7

Nu

mb

er

of

Maste

red

Targ

ets

Dylan: Cumulative Mands

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

3/1

2

3/1

9

3/2

6

4/2

4/9

4/1

6

4/2

3

4/3

0

5/7

Dylan: Cumulative Tacts

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Nu

mb

er

of

Targ

ets

Maste

red

Dylan: Cumulative Echoic Skills

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2/2

6

3/5

3/1

2

3/1

9

3/2

6

4/2

4/9

4/1

6

4/2

3

4/3

0

5/7

Dylan: Cumulative Imitation Skills

Total Cumulative Skills in 20 weeks: 68 (20 Mands)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

2/2

6

3/5

3/1

2

3/1

9

3/2

6

4/2

4/9

4/1

6

4/2

3

4/3

0

5/7

Dylan: Cumulative MTS Skills

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Seth

Age: 12 years

Special Education

eligibility: Autism

Seth

Programming:

• Primary Response Form: Sign Language

• Mand: Manding for items sign or vocal

• Listener Responding: selecting named common items, performing actions, body part

• Tact: common items

• Intraverbal: fill-in fun phrases/common phrases

• Motor Imitation: with and without objects, future signs

• Visual Performance/Match to Sample: shapes/colors, non-identical pictures-field of 10

• Echoic: CV, some early Kauffman breakdowns

8/5/2015

35

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

9/4

9/1

8

10/2

10/1

6

10/3

0

11/1

3

11/2

7

12/1

1

12/2

5

1/1

5

1/2

9

2/1

2

2/2

6

3/1

2

3/2

6

4/9

4/2

3

LIU 12 Spring Grove Int-Seth: Cumulative Tacts

0

20

40

60

80

100

Nu

mb

er

of

Targ

ets

Maste

red

LIU 12 Spring Grove Int-Seth: Cumulative Listener Responding

Skills

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1/2

92/5

2/1

22/1

92/2

63/5

3/1

23/1

93/2

64/2

4/9

4/1

64/2

34/3

05/7

LIU 12 Spring Grove Int-Seth: Cumulative Intraverbals

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

9/2

6

10/9

10/2

3

11/6

11/2

0

12/4

12/1

8

1/8

1/2

2

2/5

2/1

9

3/5

3/1

9

4/2

4/1

6

4/3

0

LIU 12 Spring Grove Int-Seth: Cumulative VP/MTS Skills

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

9/2

6

10/9

10/2

3

11/6

11/2

0

12/4

12/1

8

1/8

1/2

2

2/5

2/1

9

3/5

3/1

9

4/2

4/1

6

4/3

0

LIU 12 Spring Grove Int-Seth: Cumulative Imitation Skills

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

9/1

1

9/2

5

10/9

10/2

3

11/6

11/2

0

12/4

12/1

8

1/8

1/2

2

2/5

2/1

9

3/5

3/1

9

4/2

4/1

6

Nu

mb

er

of

Maste

red

Targ

ets

LIU12 Spring Grove Int-Seth: Cumulative Mands

Total Cumulative Skills in 31 weeks: 261

Broadening Repertoires:

Common Programming Procedures

for Level 2 and Related Protocols

8/5/2015

36

Level 2 Programs: Purpose and Considerations

• Careful programming and sequencing of skills helps avoid producing unwanted barriers that will impede development of a broad language repertoire and which we must eventually address in the future.

• Considerations: • Don’t be tempted to move too fast through these

intervention programs.

• Careful analysis of the appropriates sources of control.

• Build a solid foundation of skills on which to base advanced skills…build atomic repertoires!

Mand Program Considerations

• Expand mands for items, activities, actions: be careful not to stop #5

from level 1 at the 10 criteria

• Increase rate of manding

• Mands for missing items

• Spontaneous mands and acquiring novel mands without specific

training will often come with multiple exemplar training and density of

opportunity to mand (may be necessary to teach spontaneous mands)

• Two-component mands (action-item, adjective item, action-adverb)

• Multiple component mands

• Y/N mands:

– Child is not the one to initiate

– Can become a generalized mand

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Imitation Program Considerations

• Imitation of objects requiring discrimination

• Fine motor imitation

• Imitation fluency

• Multiple step motor imitation (beyond two steps

generally require mediating responses)

• Imitation free of verbal SD (fluency drills may

help in teaching this step)

Tact Program Considerations

• Expand tacts for items

• Tacting ongoing actions

• Tact parts of items

• Tact class of items

• Two component tacts (noun-noun, noun verb)

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Listener Responding Program Considerations

• Responding to varied verbal instructions (verbal

SD)

• Discriminating items in larger fields, in messy

arrays, and with similar stimuli

• Continue expanding performing motor actions on

command

• Discriminating items in picture/book scenes and/or

the natural environment

• Discriminate parts of items

Visual Performance/Match-to-Sample

• Match identical items in larger fields, messy

arrays, and with similar stimuli

• Match non-identical items (same progression as

identical, if necessary)

• Replicating 3-D block designs, block designs on

pictures as well as from pictures

• Replicate sequence patterns

8/5/2015

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Social and Play Skills

• Peer-Peer pairing

• Peer-Peer manding

• Play/Leisure skills: can, and should,

include independent engagement.

Intraverbal Program Considerations

• Fill in responses

– Fun activities

– songs

• Responding to questions regarding personal

information

• Intraverbal by feature, function, and class

• Answering what, who, where questions

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Classroom Routines and Group Instruction

Classroom Routines • Completing classroom routines (e.g., packing, unpacking, lining up,

etc.)

• Work independently for brief periods of time and stay on task

Group Instruction • Respond in dyads and small groups to known instructions

(unison/choral responding)

– Choral/unison responding: Students’ ability to respond along with others in a

group setting (responding on signal).

– Individual Responding: Student’s ability to respond when called on in a group

setting.

– Waiting for others individual responses: Student’s ability to remain quiet and

attentive when it is another student’s individual turn to respond.

Tommy

• 10 years old

• Attends an autism

support classroom at an

intermediate school

• Started as a non-vocal

learner with limited

skills across all operants

8/5/2015

41

Tommy

Programming:

• Mands for missing items and continue to expand mands for items, actions, activities

• Tacts for items, actions, parts of items

• LR: Following instructions to perform actions, receptive discrimination of parts

• Intraverbal FFC’s

• Small group instruction

• Conditioning peers

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

9/1

1

9/2

5

10/9

10/2

3

11/6

11/2

0

12/4

12/1

8

1/8

1/2

2

2/5

2/1

9

3/5

3/1

9

4/2

4/1

6

Nu

mb

er

of

Maste

red

Targ

ets

Tommy: Cumulative Mands for Missing

Items

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

8/2

8

9/1

1

9/2

5

10/9

10/2

3

11/6

11/2

0

12/4

12/1

8

1/8

1/2

2

2/5

2/1

9

3/5

3/1

9

4/2

4/1

6

4/3

0

Tommy: Cumulative Tacts

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

9/1

1

9/2

5

10/9

10/2

3

11/6

11/2

0

12/4

12/1

8

1/8

1/2

2

2/5

2/1

9

3/5

3/1

9

4/2

4/1

6

4/3

0

Nu

mb

er

of

Targ

ets

Maste

red

Tommy: Cumulative Listener Responding Skills

Out t

his

week

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Tommy: Cumulative Intraverbals

Out th

is w

eek

Out th

is w

eek

Out th

is w

eek

Total Cumulative Skills in 30 weeks: 198

8/5/2015

42

Beyond the Basics:

Common Programming Procedures

for Level 3 and Related Protocols

Purpose of Level 3 Programs

• To continue building on basic learning skills that include more complex language skills.

• Building toward academic performance, group instruction and more complex verbal and social relations (will not cover in depth academic components)

• Procedures need to include: • Generalization

• Spontaneity

• Transfer between operants

• Social and verbal interactions with peers

• Use of new skills in a functional and meaningful way in the student’s day to day natural environment.

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Teaching Mands at Level 3:

• Mands for removal of aversive stimuli

(remember why this is at level 3!)

• Mands for attention

• Mands for information

Expanding the Tact Repertoire

• Tact at least 4 specific aspects of items when presented with

rotating verbal questions about the item.

• Tact adjectives (relative concepts: long, big, etc)

• Tact prepositions (may need advanced analysis; is a relative

concept)

• Yes/No tacts (remember this is really an autoclitic and quite

complex to teach: conditional discrimination or joint control

protocols suggested)

• Tact exclusion from category

• Tact pronouns, adverbs

• Tact emotional states and social situations (with extreme

caution of teaching under the right sources of control)

8/5/2015

44

Listener Responding

• Follow instructions involving multiple components

(selecting multiple named items, following multiple

step directions)

• Following instructions involving adjectives

• Following instructions regarding prepositions

• Follow instructions regarding pronouns and adverbs

• Discriminate among common social situations and

emotional states

Expanding Repertoire of Visual Performance/Match-

to-Sample Skills

• Matching items in the natural environment

• Extend or continue patterns and sequences

• Sorting items into categories

• Matching models of art/craft type activities

8/5/2015

45

Social and Play

• Responding to peer mands

• Play/Leisure skills…independent

• Play/Leisure…with peers

• Verbal exchanges with peers

• Other relevant social sequences

Intraverbal

• Increased range of intraverbal responses; can

include expanding FFC’s

• Respond to “WH” questions

• Answer intraverbal yes/no questions

• Describe events, movies, stories

• Answer questions about a story read

• Answer multiple questions regarding a specific

topic

8/5/2015

46

Classroom Routines and Group Instruction

Classroom Routines • Work independently in a group and stay on task

• Retrieving and putting away materials for instruction

Group Instruction • Respond in larger groups to known instructions

(unison/choral responding)

• Learning new behaviors in a group format

Academic Skills in Conjunction or Beyond

VB-MAPP

• If student not at grade level, use sequenced and evidence-based curricula to teach academic skills (Reading Mastery, Corrective Reading, Distar Math, Connecting Math Concepts, Language for Learning, Sensible Pencil).

• Make sure students have necessary skills to begin these programs…Placement test does not necessarily give you this information.

• Curriculum-based assessment and familiarity with PA Core Standars are a critical component of programming for academic skills

8/5/2015

47

Damon

Age: 9 years

Category of

eligibility: Autism

Damon

Programming:

• Mands for

Information

• Peer to Peer Mand

• Social Skills Training

• Intraverbal skills

(imbedded in social

skills training)

• SRA Reading

Mastery Level 2

• Adapted/sequenced

math curriculum

8/5/2015

48

A Helpful Planning Sheet:

Programming Checklist & Worksheet Student: _______________ Date: __________ Program: _________________________

Student Checklist Completed Notes

Confirmed that program is at proper level (from student’s assessment(s) Y N

Checked for critical component skills before starting new program or increasing the difficulty level of current program (probe or data)

Y N

Developed a clear definition of the expected student behavior and mastery criteria

Y N Behavior: Mastery Criteria:

Scheduled practice opportunities to use skill (NET, contrived, captured) Y N How often: When: Where: With Whom: Material(s):

Teacher Checklist Completed Notes

Reviewed teaching procedures, including prompt and prompt fade procedures

Y N

Determined a sequence of instruction Y N

Determined targets that are relevant to the student Y N

Determined/developed data collection system to monitor progress Y N

Determined and gathered materials for instruction Y N

Planned for generalization Y N People Setting Examples

Provided staff training and resources if necessary Y N Who What When

8/5/2015

49

Prior to New Program Selection:

• Issue of response adduction

• Probe for skill acquisition without specific

teaching

Some Final Thoughts:

• The challenges presented by many students with autism

makes programming an insurmountable task.

• There is much work to be done and efficiency of teaching is

not a luxury but a necessity

• The recommendations provided in this presentation are not

intended to suggest this is the only way to do things or that

there may not be a better was (now or in the future). They

are simply considerations, systematic procedures and

recommendations for arranging instruction in ways that will

likely overcome the common pitfalls

• Teaching basic repertoires for children with autism that lead

to combinatorial, novel responding must be a central

component of instruction

8/5/2015

50

Thank You for Your

Participation!

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Contact Information www.pattan.net

Amiris Dipuglia

adipuglia@pattan.net

Pennsylvania Training and

Technical Assistance Network

(PaTTAN)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Tom Wolf, Governor